Mariner Housewife is a chronicle of the ups and downs of your average Mariners devotee: the joy, the anguish, the sputtering rage and disbelief… but primarily the persistent optimism and unbridled loyalty of a genuine fan.

A Brief History Of Things I’ve Been Seriously Incorrect About

Fourth grade- bet Jason Leibold a dollar that the Cubs would sweep the Padres for the NLCS. Had a hard time coming up with that dollar. Decided I would never, ever like a boy again.

Seventh grade- declared that “Electric Youth” by Debbie Gibson was a masterpiece of modern musical achievement. Also convinced myself that giant bangs and blue mascara made me look sophisticated and alluring.

Ninth grade- bet Keith Williams five dollars that the Cubs would sweep the Giants in the NLCS. Again decided I was through with boys for good. Also believed Corey Haim’s timeless appeal would never fade.

Shortly after college- felt it was a fantastic idea to move to San Francisco with no savings and no job.

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003- bet anyone who would listen that the Seattle Mariners would be headed to the World Series that year. Wisely stopped using actual money this time.

Early 2007- swore up and down that Jeff Weaver was without a doubt completely and utterly useless, and was in fact the worst pitcher in the history of baseball.

Yeah, I’m ready to admit that I was wrong about that last one. Finally. It’s taken a long time to dawn on me, and I’ve had to work pretty hard to overcome my skepticism. But I’m starting to believe that Jeff Weaver might actually be what Bavasi is paying eight million dollars for- a pretty darn good pitcher.

Now I imagine you shared my disbelief at first, right? After his first three starts I was ready to stop watching any game he was involved in. At one point I actually said that I personally had a better chance of winning a game for the Mariners this season than Weaver did. And he was, seriously, that terrible at first. Then he went on the DL, and we all kind of chuckled and said, “DL huh, right. Sure, it’s an injury, oh yeah, I totally buy that,” and winked and nudged each other.

But wow. Apparently I was just straight up incorrect. Maybe there was something to that whole DL thing after all. Because it’s starting to look like- and I still can’t even believe this is being said, by me– Weaver is one of our most reliable guys. Since he came off the DL in June, he’s been the starter that has given up the fewest runs. This is true- I even did actual math to confirm it, that’s how doubtful I was. It’s been an amazing turnaround.

Sure, he’s had a couple of tough outings since the DL stint. But he’s also pitched two complete game shutouts. Even when he starts to look frighteningly like the old Jeff Weaver from April and May, like early in tonight’s game against Chicago, he manages to pull it together quickly and shut down the opponent once again. He’s the one guy who has been able to give the bullpen a break on a fairly regular basis, and as we all know, this bullpen has been completely overtaxed this season.

You know what’s just as weird? He’s even kind of charming. He walked one dude today, and it was a totally close call. His reaction to the ump was priceless- he was trying to figure out where the pitch had been, too high or inside, or what, and he did this exaggerated shrug motion that was straight out of a cartoon- honestly, the word I used was “adorable”. I was delighted to see that he received a standing ovation as he walked off the field after seven and two-thirds good innings. He was completely straight-faced as he headed to the dugout, but I could swear I detected a hint of a smile at the corner of his eyes. He’s like our own personal Cinderella, and although I keep waiting for him to turn back into a pumpkin, it doesn’t look like that’s happening.

If you’d have said to me at the end of April that I would be thinking this way about Weaver in August, I’d have laughed at you. And not just politely chuckled and rolled my eyes- I’m talking serious guffawing, with snorting and gasping and tears rolling down my face and having to sit down because my stomach hurts and I’m actually having some trouble breathing and my entire face hurts but I can’t stop, kind of laughing. But I was way, way, way wrong about this one. And unlike the moving-to-San-Francisco-debacle, this time I couldn’t be happier about how off base I was.